University and College Entry

Choosing a University or College

There are three key factors to be considered when choosing a university or college. The first and most important is the course that you want to pursue. Not all universities or colleges run all courses and the content of courses is not the same in each university or college. Having decided on your preferred course you need to identify what is offered using the UCAS website. You should then look at the prospectuses of the institutions where it is offered to find out the particular courses that suits you best.

The second factor is your likely performance at A Level and the number of UCAS tariff points you will gain. You need to make a realistic assessment of this. Give yourself a range, neither too high nor too low. Having done this assessment, you should then look again at the institutions you have identified as offering the course you want and ensure that you are likely to meet their entry requirements.

The third factor is partly geographical. You need to decide whether the location of the institution matters. Are you prepared to study anywhere in the United Kingdom as long as the course is right? Do you want to go to a campus-based institution or a collegiate one? Do you want to be in a city or would you rather be in the country? These may seem insignificant factors but remember that you are going to be spending at least three years of your life at university or college. Having made your shortlist of possible institutions you should then visit them on open days to see whether the reality matches the picture given in the prospectus.

Each year a number of students also wish to explore applications to overseas universities including European and American institutions. Specialist help is available for those wanting to understand more about the application process and requirements.

The Application Process

Your ideas about further education should evolve during your Lower Sixth year. By the end of the Summer Term, you need to have hardened them into preferences for particular courses and institutions. At this stage you need to apply for your own copy of the university prospectuses and start to identify which university open days it would be helpful to attend.

During the Autumn Term of Upper Sixth you will apply to your selected universities through a central clearing house, the Universities and Colleges Admission System (UCAS). You can apply for courses at up to five universities or colleges on a UCAS form. This is now done electronically. For some institutions such as Oxford and Cambridge and colleges of Art, Drama and Agriculture there is a separate and/or additional form to complete. If you are taking a gap year you can either apply while you are still at school as a ‘Deferred Entry’ candidate or apply the following autumn, once you have received your results, as a ‘Post A Level’ applicant.

Depending on which universities and courses you have applied for you may be called for an interview between December and March. If you have applied to Oxford or Cambridge you will attend an interview in December. By the end of March, you will have received either an offer conditional on your A Level results or a rejection from each of the institutions to which you have applied. The conditional offers you receive may come in a variety of forms. Some will make points offers based on the new UCAS tariff. Some will make offers based on grades in three A Level subjects. When the A Level results come through in August, universities and colleges confirm the places of those who have achieved the grades required by their conditional offers.

“Data provided by the school indicate that in public examinations, pupils attain examination grades at least in line with and often beyond the level expected for their ability, indicating strong progress from their starting points.” - ISI December 2022